WordPress is one of the most used content management and blogging softwares available on the web. The platform has grown increasingly popular amongst podcasters as a way to generate a website in order to advertise and distribute their content. Realizing this, Libsyn created a connector for WordPress, allowing producers to have one place to publish their post and media, syndicating that content out to WordPress automatically.

There are a few caveats worth mentioning before we get started.

You should already have a WordPress site setup. We, as we are not a web host, do not offer WordPress on our servers. Our WordPress OnPublish will not work with a WordPress.com website.It only operates with self hosted WordPress installations.

Looking for a WordPress Managed host? We recommend pair Networks. Another Pittsburgh based company, pair Networks has been hosting websites for the hobbyist up through large enterprise. They now offer a fully managed WordPress solution that makes setup, security, and support easy. All Libsyn customers receive free setup and 10% discounts on their hosting package.

As we do not host the WordPress site, we can assist in the setup however, please understand that different web hosts may have different restrictions that may prevent WordPress OnPublish from working properly. This is out of our power, and not something we can support or fix. Our support team will let you know if your question requires the investigation of your web host, or your site administrator.

Lets get started!

Prepping Your Wordpress Site

The first thing you need to do is make sure your WordPress site is ready to accept posts from Libsyn. There are two requirements for WordPress OnPublish to work with your site:

XML-RPC Must be enabled

The iFrame Plugin needs installed

XML-RPC

XML-RPC is a protocol that is frequently used by blogging softwares for the purpose of allowing posts to transfer and be properly formatted between one service and another, as in this case between Libsyn and WordPress.

Some web hosts will disable XML-RPC for security purposes. If this is the case, WordPress OnPublish will not be able to post to your site. Double check with Libsyn’s support team if you have trouble getting posts into your WordPress site.

iFrame Plugin

In order for WordPress to display the HTML5 Media Player in your WordPress posts, it needs the iFrame plugin (this is also true if you are manually embedding the player in your posts). To install the iFrame plugin, log into your WordPress Administration, and under Plugins select Add New.

Search for iFrame. The first plugin in the search results that appears should be titled simply, iFrame. That is the plugin you are looking for, install and activate the plugin.

With the iFrame plugin installed and activated, it’s time to move into Libsyn and setup the destination.

Configuring WordPress OnPublish

The WordPress destination will appear. This is where the destination gets configured in order to connect Libsyn to your WordPress site and Libsyn to publish posts to your site.

Username

Enter the username to your WordPress site administrator. You can use an account specifically created in WordPress, or you can use the login you typically use, but the account level should be an administrator.

Password

Enter the password that goes to the username entered above.

Blog Web Address

Do *not* enter the URL to your wp-admin, or to a specific category or page on your site. Enter the base URL to your site.

Blog ID

If you are running a multi-site setup, each blog will have a blog ID. Enter that here. Most producers do not need this setting. If you are not running a multi-site setup, this can be ignored.

Test Connection

Once you have entered your details, hit Test Connection. You should see a checkmark with “Test connection succeeded”. If not, double check the details you have entered.

Enabling and Configuring the Player

Next on the list is enabling the media player for your posts. This will automatically embed the player on your WordPress post using an iFrame embed code.

Below are the options for configuring the player. You can configure both audio and video players separately so regardless of what you publish, the player will work for you and your site. Both players can be previewed so you can see what your settings look like before saving any changes.

Additional Settings

These additional settings help finalize how the post will appear on your WordPress site. Let’s go through each one:

Link Text

When a post is created by Libsyn on your WordPress site, it will include the HTML5 media player, the episode title, the episode description, and a link to the episode.

The link text will be what is linked to the episode (the link gets set in the Published Link discussed below).

Set a category on your site to house your podcast episodes and enter that category here. You can then link to that category on one of your WordPress menus making it easy for your site visitors to find your episodes.

Publish As Draft

If you would like to make edits to your post in WordPress prior to the post going live, you can choose to have the post published as a draft in WordPress. This way, you can make your edits and publish the post at your convenience.

Allow Comments

Check this box if you want your WordPress comments functionality enabled for this post.

Enable Trackbacks

Check this box if you want trackback functionality enabled for this post.

Published Link

There are three different options for what you want linked to in order to access the episode.

Directory Link

Libsyn has a podcast directory that showcases shows hosted by Libsyn. This directory can be found here:

Choosing the directory link option will link directly to your episode in the Libsyn podcast directory.

Episode Permalink

When you create an episode inside Libsyn, you can set the permalink for the episode. This can be a custom link, or even link to your Libsyn podcast page. If you choose episode permalink, that is the URL that would get shared.

Download URL

Each media file published has a download URL that can be used to access the media file directly. Choosing this option will share that download URL.

Once you are done configuring the destination, hit save to save your changes. Any episode created in Libsyn going forward can be automatically sent to your WordPress site.

Publishing to WordPress OnPublish

There is absolutely no difference in publishing with WordPress and publishing without. The details from your episode are automatically sent to WordPress, and episodes can be scheduled the same as well.

Here is an example of what the post might look like on your WordPress site (note your theme may display posts differently):

Have questions? Reach out to our friendly support team at support@libsyn.com.